HOWELL – In high school cross country, Patrick Miller was just another face in the pack.

He was the No. 1 runner at Howell High School as a senior in the fall of 2011, but he never came close to running in a state meet. The best time of his career, a 16:45.4 in his final meet, was good for only 40th place in the regional, 25 places behind the last qualifying spot.

“I wasn’t that great a runner in high school,” Miller said. “We ran in a league with schools like Grand Blanc, Milford and Brighton. I only broke 17 minutes once in high school in my last race.”

Miller left high school knowing he had more potential as a runner.

“I didn’t take cross country seriously until my senior year,” he said. “I didn’t run a lot in the summer. I did it to stay busy.”

When Miller enrolled at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2012, he joined the school’s club cross country team, which is competitive against many small college varsity squads.

Training more seriously than ever, he ran his hometown race for the seventh straight year and won it for the first time on Friday night, posting a time of 16:00.9.

By contrast, he ran the Melon Run in 18:19.3 heading into his senior year at Howell in 2011. He finished third the last two years.

With a 5K best of 15:28 while running for the Wolverines’ club team, Miller has his sights set on running with the big boys. He has been training to run in Michigan’s open tryout, which will be held on Aug. 29.

“I love running,” he said. “I’m going to give it my best shot. In 10 or 15 years, I don’t want to look back and wonder, ‘What if I trained harder?’ I want to see what I’m capable of running.”

Miller was fortunate to race at all on Friday. A bout of plantar fasciitis that’s plagued him for two weeks flared up during an easy five-mile run on Thursday. He iced it all day Friday and felt well enough to race.

Had Miller not shown up, the race would have had its first female overall winner. Audrey Belf, a senior at Birmingham Seaholm, broke her own course record with a time of 17:06.4 to place second overall. Belf set the previous mark of 17:27.2 last year before embarking on a school year in which she won the state Division 1 championships in cross country and the 3,200-meter run. Belf won the national junior championship in the 5,000 this summer.

“I try to go into road races a little different than regular cross country races,” said Belf, who was in Howell attending cross country camp with her team. “I train through them. I want to see how I can race by doing it through normal training. It feels good to come here and improve on my time from last year. It makes me confident going into my cross country season.”

With the 5K and 10K races starting together, Miller ran the first two miles with Mike Andersen of Walled Lake. Andersen pulled ahead, but he was running the 10K and made the U-turn to head back onto the course about 100 yards before the finish line. Andersen won the 10K in 33:09.6, weaving through a large pack of slower 5K runners down the stretch.

“It’s never easy when you’re doubling back against 5K runners on the course,” Andersen said. “It’s cool, because you get all the cheering and all of that, but it’s a lot of weaving. I’m sure if you look at the watch, you ran more than 10K, but it’s a great event, so I can’t complain.”

It’s the first time that Andersen, a former Milford High School runner, has raced the Melon Run.

“It’s got 37 years on it, which is awesome,” he said. “I always love doing races that have history. I’d rather do a local race with history than some new-fangled big race.”

Chris Elsey of South Lyon was second in 33:31.8.

Although Christine Cieslak lives in Howell, she hasn’t been a regular at the Melon Run because her high school cross country team was usually away at camp. Cieslak’s unfamiliarity with the race almost cost her, as she crossed the finish line after one loop of the 10K. She backtracked, caught another woman at four miles and won in 43:13.3.

Danie Matusik of Chelsea was second in 43:31.8.

“I knew we were turning around, but I didn’t know where to turn around,” said Cieslak, who ran the 5K in 2010 before her freshman year at Howell. “I felt pretty good. I ran without my watch. I just wanted to go by how I felt.”

While runners like Miller and Cieslak have improved over the years to win their hometown race, future standouts took part in the mile run before the start of the 10K and 5K.

Kade Wirth, 13, of Brighton won the mile in 5:54. Mackenzie Johnson of Howell was the first girl, taking third in 7:08.

Josie Donaldson, an 8-year-old from Howell, ran her first race alongside her mother, Darcie. Josie ran the mile in 8:55, edging out her mother across the finish line.

After they finished, Darcie beamed a proud smile, while Josie did her best to catch her breath.

Darcie regularly participates in the Melon Run, which begins within a short walk of her house. Her husband, Jason, ran the 5K with her 10-year-old son, Jackson.

“I try to do it every year,” Darcie said. “It’s the community. I love Howell. It’s a great downtown area.”

There were 942 finishers in the three races, just one shy of the record set in 2012.